title: Duplication of radiology imaging studies in the emergency department: what is the cost?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To quantify the rate of preventable duplication of imaging studies in the Emergency Department. Previously, to estimate potential savings from the Health Information Exchange, figures used to be based on expert opinion, as the actual rate of redundant imaging is unknown.
  
  
  METHODS
  We prospectively quantified the frequency of duplicate CT scans in tertiary care and community hospital emergency departments (ED) through a short questionnaire at the time the studies were ordered.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the study period, 9246 CT scans were performed with a preventable duplicate rate of 0.42%. Both sites had equivalent rates of preventable duplicates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We used two EDs to quantify the rate of preventable duplicate CT scans ordered. Our results demonstrate that only 0.4% of CT scans performed in our EDs are preventable duplicates. Our rate of preventable duplicate studies was much lower than what experts and emergency practitioners suspected, which suggests that potential cost savings from elimination of preventable duplicates may also be much lower than currently estimated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Rhode Island and the Miriam Hospitals, Warren Alpert School of Medicine of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA Department of Emergency Medicine, The Miriam Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
authors.forename: Achyut B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Kamat
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Rhode Island and the Miriam Hospitals, Warren Alpert School of Medicine of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA UEMF, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Midgley
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, Warren Alpert School of Medicine of Brown University, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kimbrell
mesh_terms: D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D017046:Cost Savings; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D010388:Pelvis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011860:Radiography, Abdominal / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019564:Unnecessary Procedures / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Cost Effectiveness; Data Management; Emergency Department Management; Imaging, CT/MRI; Quality Assurance